At the end of third round of vote count, Patel, 83, led by over 3,200 votes against his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rival Kanubhai Bhalala. The Congress had no candidate in the constituency.

Aiming for a hat-trick, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi notched early leads in his Maninagar constituency Thursday as votes polled in the state elections were counted.

At the end of the third round of vote count, Modi had secured over 8,700 votes compared to around 4,000 by his greenhorn rival, Shweta Bhatt of the Congress, the wife of suspended police officer Sanjeev Bhatt.

The constituency is located on the oustkirts of Ahmedabad.

Keshubhai Patel, who heads the Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP), had decided against putting up a candidate in Maninagar to ensure a tough fight for his main rival, Modi of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).